Dancer follows her heart, feet to inspire others with disabilities

Olivia Byers-Straus, who has Down syndrome, first joined a dance class when she was 3. That was over 20 years ago.

Video: Guy Wathen

Angela Rose Dorantes, owner of Steppin’ Out Dance Studio in the Mission District, was teaching a class for young children when she noticed a student’s younger sister dancing along on the sidelines.

“I noticed Olivia dancing off on the side of the class in her big sister’s shoes,” Dorantes says.

Olivia Byers-Straus, who has Down syndrome, was 2 at the time. The next season she would join a class for little sisters. That was more than 20 years ago. She hasn’t stopped dancing since.

“I love it because it’s who I am,” she says.

Byers-Straus describes feeling alive onstage, and it’s obvious. During a recent season-ending performance at Everett Middle School, her freestyle dance elicited cheers from the crowd. The joy on her face was unmistakable.

“The reason I feel free and alive is because I just want to show the world who I really am, and I want them to be part of that,” she says.

Dancer follows her heart, feet to inspire others with...

1of 2Olivia Byers-Straus, who has Down syndrome, teaches at Steppin’ Out Dance Studio in the Mission District.Photo: Photos by Guy Wathen / The Chronicle

2of 2Angela Rose Dorantes (left), owner of Steppin’ Out Dance Studio, met Olivia Byers-Straus more than 20 years ago as she danced on the sidelines while her older sister took part in Dorantes’ dance class. Byers-Straus became a student of dance and now teaches the craft to students with disabilities.Photo: Guy Wathen / The Chronicle

While continuing to pursue her love of dance as a student, the 25-year-old also teaches a class for young dancers with disabilities at the studio — an opportunity given to her by Dorantes in her DanceAbility class.

“When I decided to start the new generation of DanceAbility dancers, I wanted to give them a role model that they could look up to,” Dorantes says. “It’s awesome to have a teacher that is like you and successful at doing what she’s doing, and I think that’s really cool.”

In addition to a love of dance, the fiercely independent Byers-Straus is pursuing her passion for fashion. In October, she will travel to Denver to participate in the Be Beautiful Be Yourself Fashion Show, a fundraiser for the Global Down Syndrome Foundation. She has advice for people with special needs who have talents they would like to explore.

Guy Wathen became the Multimedia Editor for the San Francisco Chronicle in 2017. The Louisville, Ky., native is a graduate of Western Kentucky University, where he earned degrees in Anthropology and Photojournalism. Wathen covered Western Pennsylvania for 16 years as a visual journalist for the Tribune-Review and recently left Pittsburgh to drive across the country and join The Chronicle.